Blood Donors Seen as Saviors for Precision Medicine

In early October, with a bandage on her arm after donating a pint of type O negative blood, Erin Elliott earned her “gallon pin” from Bloodworks Northwest in Seattle. Elliott, a healthy 35-year-old real estate agent with two young daughters, makes an effort three or four times per year to visit the downtown blood collection center, located about a half-hour from her home. Donating blood is a habit she developed in high school, urged on by her parents, and is one that she’s continued unfailingly, no matter where she’s lived or how busy her life has become.